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The Hunger Games Console Games Are On Lionsgate's Radar

When a movie catapults to a record box office opening of $152.5 million and shows no signs of slow-down with $61.1 mMillion in its second week, it establishes a franchise. The Hunger Games has already earned over $364.9 million globally. Lionsgate is turning the Suzanne Collins’ book trilogy, which has sold over 23.5 million copies and counting, into four movies. And with a free-to-play Facebook game, The Hunger Games Adventures, and a free mobile game, The Hunger Games: Girl on Fire, more games are expected to appear.

“Games have always been in the back of everyone’s mind since we picked up the rights to the books,” said David Hayes, vice president of digital marketing at Lionsgate. “Outside of the name that has ‘games’ in the title, it’s no-brainer that you’d make a game based on the book or movie. But we’ve been careful and cautious that when we do embark on a new project, we’re doing it the right way and delivering an experience that fans will enjoy. We’ve had many discussions about all the types of games, including console games. The two we released at launch are the best representation of what we’re setting out to do with these games.”

With the next movie due in 2013 and another two locked in after that, Lionsgate has plenty of time to partner with a game publisher and release at least a console game. Electronic Arts showed that games based on movies based on books can be successful with its Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings franchises, as an example. And a game publisher can avoid the controversial aspect of The Hunger Games arena battles altogether.

“I don’t think having kids battle to the death in the Hunger Games is a hindrance to a potential console game,” said Hayes. “If you look at the narrative arc across the trilogy of books, there’s an Old Testament-style story of Katniss versus the Capitol. It’s that grander story of having an enslaved people forced to compete in the games that’s very attractive to fans and marketers and anyone participating in the franchise. It gets people excited. The focus would be less on the kids killing kids aspect and more about the more powerful story of good versus evil.”

With Catching Fire, the second movie in the franchise, slated for a November 22, 2013 release, there’s plenty of time to develop a console game. There’s also time, with two additional movies slated to hit theaters after that, to develop a full-on MMO game like The Lord of the Rings Online or The Matrix Online.

For now, gamers have a pair of free games to play. There’s the mobile game, The Hunger Games: Girl on Fire, and the Funtactix Facebook game, The Hunger Games Adventures. The Facebook game is receiving regular updates with new game content as well as tie-ins to the movie like music and clips.

“The thing I’m excited about with The Hunger Game Adventures is that its iterative,” said Hayes. “Fans know that we’ll be making weekly updates with new items and environments and levels infinitely. The value proposition is tremendously different than buying a PS3 or Xbox game and playing through it. You could get updates through DLC, but Facebook lets us take things way beyond anything we could do on a console.”

But consoles should be the next step for The Hunger Games exploration. The Facebook game allowed Lionsgate to have something available in tandem with the first film. And with record box office expected for the rest of the franchise and the demographics of this franchise appealing to both males and females (something that kept the female-centric Twilight movies from getting games), the groundwork has been laid for a publisher to step in and create a videogame franchise tied into this mythology.

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I recently wrote a blog sharing my ideas and what I’d like to see in a Hunger Games video game, and the majority of people I talk to seem to share the same vision. If developers can stray away from the story of the main characters, then they could create a hugely popular experience. The story of Katniss, Peeta, Gale, etc. is told in the books (and the later movies). I don’t see a need to remain repetitive with a game through Katniss’ perspective.

Create a single player survival game based on a character designed by the player. Give them particular talents based on their district & backstory. Create a new Hunger Games driven by consequences based on the player’s actions and decisions (as well as the Gamemakers). Not only will this give developers the ability to get creative, they’ll attract a variety of people that you normally wouldn’t obtain if you make a game that simply echoes the movie.

I totally agree with the majority of your ideas. I think this game could do very well with using your ideas and with adding a choice of it being Katniss, Peeta, Gale, ect. I know this game would be successful as long as it’s made for Wii, PS3, and XBOX.

I can totally see a game where they have a campaign mode similar to the movie where you’re in the arena and have to protect Peeta and all that great stuff, but then it would be crazy if there was an online multiplayer mode. 24 people in a selected arena either the one from the first book or second maybe some from the second book when they watched clips of previous games or even have Suzanne come in and throw out some other ideas. You’d start underground, rise through the tube, cornucopia in the middle with weapons and it would almost be like a Call of Duty meets Grand Theft Auto sort of thing since the maps would have to be bigger so you could hide except you get one life and maybe even have a thirst and hunger meter you’d have to keep up. With every death, a cannon sounds and since it’d be online you could even form alliances and create a chat between you and specific other players so only they can hear you through their headset. I so badly wish I knew how to make games because this would be sweet. Every 3 months they could have the quarter quell where theres some sort of twist to the games. Anything like this that came out I would but immediately. All I can do is hope!

i want it to have a huge multiplayer in different arenas and where you can make your own chararcters and unlock weapons to start off with or just pick one up im okay with long matches i played 80 minute battlefield 3 matches before

I think it should, for the single player campaign, follow Haymich in the second Quarter Quell, cos Peeta and Katniss’ story has been done in the books and in the movies, whilst Haymich’s experience in the Games is only touched on. Plus, the developers could deal with the whole “Kids killing Kids” problem by explaining it as the Qaurter Quell takes 4 18 year olds from each district. For a multiplayer aspect, because the books revolve around humanity and the human condition, each player decides what district they come from, and have a hazing week, so to speak, before they cant be put on the players list for the games. After a week of exploring the town and getting to know other players, they are put in a list and one boy and one girl character is chosen to participate, which other players can then watch in real time or keep socialising etc. Also a groovy idea i had is the same kind of system as MGS3 where injuries have to be dealt with, and hunger and thirst meters were in place. The arena itself would be based on the Hunger Games and also the Quarter Quell, which happens monthly, where special rules take place. Its all ideas, and the last one would be if you die in the Games, rather than going into perma-death, would simply observe the match till the end. I hope you guys like my ideas, cos i really want this game to happen haha!

It would be great if they had a game maker mode! they could choose to create or choose a arena and put deadly things in it and they could go from game maker to tribute. and it would be cool if they made it for psp or ds. that would be nice.

I think they should make it were you get to make you own character & maybe even pick his/her district. It can put you through training were you learn the controls and stuff and maybe meet other tributes. When the games begins you basically have to survive and if you see another tribute and you press circle or pause or something you can ask them to Allie with you and you pretty much SURVIVE. I and many of my friends would buy that kind off game.

In my opinion it would be great if they would make a console game of the Hunger Games, but it should be varied enough to keep your interest. Evidently it should have a campaign mode where you can play through the game as Katniss and relive the movies and the books. Secondly it needs a multiplayer mode, in which the Games itself are the center piece. Per game session you get assigned a district number and a gender. After that you can personalize yourself and your stats. This way you can choose whether you want to be faster, stronger or more agile and which weapons you fight best with. This way the game will be more interesting, since all characters will have other assets. Then there is the map issue: if there are not enough maps and traps, players will be bored soon. That’s why I think there should be, apart from campaign and multiplayer mode, a Game Maker mode. Think of it as Little Big Planet: you get to choose everything and then upload it online. You get to choose the size of the map, where you put which traps, which natural elements, the weather and so on. This way every game will be different every time you play it and it will not bore. I hope all these elements will be in the game, but we’ll see soon enough (or I hope so at least)

I was discussing this with a friend today and we were thinking of the things that they could do. For story mode you’d be Katniss or Peeta. And you’d really play along with the story from the book, having the objectives be similar. And both Peeta and Katniss would have different playing formats. And then having an arcade mode. Where you create your own character. And you control different aspects of the game. You make the difficulty level, what the capitol can do to torture you (like the fire Katniss was attacked with in book 1), choosing a skill (like bow and arrow, sword, knife throwing, etc.) and if you choose that skill for that arcade, your weapon you chose would be better suited and do more damage since it’s like your class. And instead of having a cornucopia or sponsors in arcade mode, you’d make it like most video games, having random weapons and medicines throughout the forest. You start with nothing and there’s a cornucopia and the supplies are good. But while in the woods there’s random supplies (unrealistic, but good for a game, why it’d be in an arcade mode). And if your skillset is bow and arrows, if you have one, it’d have better stats than anything else would be equiped with you. You also have stanima. You can run around but you lose stanima, the less you have, the less damage you deal, the slower you run. And you have trees (but only some are sleepable making it harder to find) and you sleep in those. Regaining your stanima. You’d have a health bar (obviously) and it goes down the longer you don’t have/find water. There’d be food too, random berries. And you can take the risk of eating them or not, if you do and they’re bad, you can die, if they’re good, you regain health/stamina. And mini-games for hunting. A random icon would be placed and if you approch it, you’d press a button and it’d be a little mini-game involved with hunting. If you win, you get the food. Which would restore stamina/health (which are seperate). You level up too for arcade mode. The more games you win, the better you get. The more damage your weapons do and stuff. Also having the game live would be great. Playing with a bunch of friends! Also being able to toggle certain aspects of the game. You’d be able to toggle Capitol tricks, amount of woods, water/food availibility, weapon supply, etc. Having climbable trees to kill with, hidable bushes for seeing an opponent. For LIve and arcade mode you’d be able to toggle the arena (foresty, swamp, desert, etc.). The game should definately be first person perspective. But the type where you dont’ see the body, the one where you’re like just above the person’s head. So you still see your character, but you have the view. Making it more realistic, if someone’s sneaking up behind you, you can’t see them. THird person-you see all around. We really went into depth on the topic. ANd we thought of so many different arenas, capitol tricks, and so many aspects of the game. Hopefully it comes out how I’m picturing it. That’d be pretty sweet! If you have other ideas please tell me, not that I can make the game, but I’d just like to hear it. I thought our ideas were pretty epic.

there should be a campaign mode where you can play as any tribute from the hunger games ( cato, rue, thresh, foxface, clove, etc) not just katniss or peeta. and you can create your own decisions and tactics of how everything goes. and whoever you play as should have a main final enemy. and you can also create weapons using materials you find aurond the area, but have limited inventory, like Minecraft. it should be open world survival but you select missions by going to a certain place like GTA or Saints row, but you have to keep up with body heat, hunger, thirst, so it will be realistic, and you also have to go up against natural disaster and animals. and you can also create alliances. unless you play as a career (cato, clove, marvel, or glimmer) then you already have an alliance. and survival mode where you can choose a certain area in panem. and survive aginst countless waves of random enemies, and enemy tributes. using the objects aurond you, while you can create certain objects, and multiplayer which is the same as campaign except you are a random person in the games as a 24 person free-for-all. and you do the same thing as in campaign except no final bosses and no missions or objectives, just killing eachother.